Broken
by The First Sight
Summary: Everyone has their own bodies. Dark succeeds in stealing yet another artwork, and as he makes his escape, he stumbles upon someone he hasn't seen in a long while. But... what happened?
1. Setup

_**Broken**_

**Rating:** Rated T in general, may contain M-rated parts later on.

**Warnings:** Abuse, Rape, Yaoi.

**Healers: **Trust-building, Love.

**Disclaimer:** I still do not own D.N.Angel or its contents. We leave that all to the brilliant Yukiru Sugisaki.

**!****Things You Need to Know About the Story****!**

Dark and Krad have their own bodies, and have for a while now. (Don't ask me how, because I haven't figured that out yet. It's a totally different storyline than my previous fanfic. Maybe I'll put it in the EXRAS at the end.)

At the beginning of this story, Dark is in an ally. He has escaped the cops after stealing an art piece (The piece has to meaning in the plot this time, so there is no description or name for it.) You won't know what happened to Krad until you get through the story. All will be revealed with time. _(bows very zen-like)_

_**Story Formatting**_

As in my other fanfic, every chapter will begin with something like this:

...Umteenth Part: Somebody...

Blah blah blah story begins here la di da.

(The 'Somebody' will be the name of whosever point-of-view the chapter is in.)

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Now that you know all that – On with the story! 


	2. Chapter 1

_**Broken**_

...First Part: Dark...

"Please don't touch me," he whispered, eyes frantic.

"What the hell happened to you?" I asked. I could hardly believe my eyes – or ears – or anything, as far as that goes. The situation was absolutely impossible. It went against all comprehensible reason.

Krad just shook his head, his eyes still wide and fearful. He panicked when I took a step toward him, his breath coming out in a gasp as he tried to back further against the brick wall. He resembled a beaten puppy in a way. "Go away," he pleaded almost inaudibly.

I knelt down in front of him so that I didn't tower over his meek form. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on," I said stubbornly.

Krad drew the coarse blanket he was covered in more tightly around himself and shook his head again. It seemed he couldn't look directly at me anymore either, now that I was sitting eye-level to him.

"Krad, what happened to you?" I insisted, "Tell me."

"_No_!" A bare arm emerged from the folds of the blanket and he covered his face with his hand, curling into himself more.

This was ridiculous. "Alright, fine," I relinquished, standing up. "I guess I'll just leave you here in this dump." I kicked a tin can out of my way and it rolled under one of the skanky green dumpsters as I began to walk very slowly out of the ally.

"Dark – wait!" I heard Krad's broken voice behind me and stopped, turning to face him once again. Molding my face into a narrow-eyed mask of irritation – which was pretty much all an act – I waited for him to continue. "Don't leave me here alone..." His voice shook as his lower lip quivered slightly. "...He might come back..."

What...?

"Who's 'he'?" I wondered.

Krad's revealed arm hugged his opposite shoulder and he glanced away again. I noticed how busted-up his skin looked. Large blotches of unnatural, stomach-churning colors littered his fair skin, accompanied by various other wounds. I could very easily have thrown up at the sight; but I didn't, thankfully – fat lot of good that would do me. His face didn't look much better.

Right, then. – From now on, Dark, no questions. I wouldn't be getting any answers, anyway, I figured.

Walking toward him again and earning another panic-stricken look, I knelt down and, sliding one arm around his shoulders and wedging the other under his knees, I scooped him up. My intention was to carry him home with me. "You are going to have to give me a really good explanation for why I'm doing this for you later," I told him.

Krad clung to me as best he could, letting a small whimper of pain escape his throat. As I headed out of the ally, I realized that the blanket he clung to was the only layer of fabric separating him and my arms. Rolling my eyes baringly to the sky, I spread my wings and took off into it.

. . .

"Hey! Daisuke! Emiko! Can someone let me in already?" I hollered through the thick wooden door of the Niwa house. "He –"

"Sorry Dark," Daisuke apologized as he opened the door at last. He froze, dumbfounded, when he noticed the shattered bundle I had managed to haul home with me. "Is that...?" the sentence trailed off.

"Yeah," I confirmed his suspicion. "Now are you gonna let me in or what?"

"Oh." Daisuke backed away from the door, giving me space to maneuver Krad through it without bashing his head or legs into anything and make my way toward the living room.

I set Krad gently down on the couch and stepped back a pace just to watch him breathe for a moment – to make sure he was still breathing at all. He had passed out during their short flight there.

"What happened to him?" Daisuke asked behind me in a hushed voice. I knew he was breathing a huge sigh of relief that Satoshi – much like me and Dai – had been separated from his 'curse'.

"I don't know yet," I admitted, rubbing my forehead in thought. Daisuke looked at me strangely as I began to walk away.

"Dark; where are you going?"

"Hang tight a minute," I told him. "I'm just going to get him some clothes."

As I sifted through my wardrobe for something that Krad could possibly wear without injuring himself, I realized just how much black I owned. It wasn't a surprise, really, nor was it a bad thing; merely an observation. Finally, I decided to pull out some overly loose-fitting pajama bottoms – they had been mislabeled in size when I bought them – and discovered that somewhere along the way I had obtained possession of a plain white t-shirt. Tossing it aside, I figured that Krad could just have it later, but right now it would probably just get stained and bloody. I pulled out another shirt at random from the bottom of one of my dresser drawers and a pair of boxers, and finally made my way back to the other room.

When I came back with the clothes, I found Daisuke on his knees next to the couch, running a wash-cloth over Krad's newly-exposed skin. The guy really looked in bad shape. Sure, I hated him – he was my enemy – but no one deserved to go through whatever torture his condition betrayed.

By the look of it, Daisuke was thinking along those same lines.

"Well, now he's clean, at any rate..." he muttered, but it looked like something else was bothering him. I could hardly blame him, really – he _had_ just revealed Krad's naked body, after all. Dai's crimson eyes looked up at me with pity in their depths. "I think he was raped," he informed me uneasily.

"_What_?"

"There was –" Daisuke began. He was about to start sounding like some forensic analyst, I could just see it coming.

"Never mind," I said quickly, plucking a protest out of thin air just to interrupt him. Poor kid must be scarred for life – I was already, and I hadn't even really looked at Krad yet. "Where's Emiko?" I changed the subject.

"Dunno," he replied, shrugging and glancing about the room as if he expected to see someone there. "She and Towa went shopping, I think."

"Okay. Well..." I paused to think, then threw a look at Krad's motionless form again. "...how about you go find the bandages, okay?"

"Sure." Thoughtfully, Daisuke went off in his search, leaving me alone with Krad.

Heaving a heavy sigh, I leaned over him, trying to figure out how to dress an unconscious person. Krad groaned, and I hastily wrapped the blanket over him again. That was the solution: get him to dress himself.

His eyes opened and I sat down on the edge of the couch next to him before he could protest, setting the small pile of black fabric on his stomach. "I brought you some clothes," I offered.

I thought I saw tears forming in his eyes as he carefully sat up – the _wince_ was real; _that_ I knew for sure – and pulled the shirt from the pile first. He just sat there, holding it in his fist for a moment.

"What's up?" I wondered.

"I can barely move my right arm, Dark," he admitted. He really did look like he was about to cry.

"Oh." Awkward. "Here, then." Standing up, I held out my hand for the shirt. He gave it to me, and I straightened it out before bunching it up again so that the holes for the arms and head were pretty well aligned. I held it in front of him. "Stick your right arm in first," I instructed. Krad grit his teeth as he moved his arm to stick it through the first sleeve. "Now put your other arm in and I'll help you pull it over your head, got it?" Krad nodded and did what he was told. He leaned down and I pulled the fabric over his head, careful not to disposition his arm too much. "Tada."

A tear managed to escape from his eye and fell down his distorted complexion. It was the first one I'd ever seen him shed. "Thanks... Dark..." His voice faltered a lot in those two words. I didn't blame him – it was a bizarre occurrence... So was the whole situation of me helping him get dressed as if I were his mother or something...

A halfhearted smirk made its way to my lips. "I'm not helping you with the pants," I informed him.

He almost chuckled. "I wouldn't want you to."

"Fair enough." I shrugged and began to walk away as he swung his legs around and sat up properly. I thought I felt his eyes on my back as I left; wary.

Stepping into the kitchen, I decided that I needed a glass of water. After drinking one glass, I filled it again, this time dumping it over my head as I leaned over the sink, possibly to clear it of something. I rubbed the closest hand towel over my hair to dry it again and wipe my face, briefly remembering the artwork I'd stolen.

It was in my room, I remembered. Okay.

"Dark...?"

I turned to see Krad, dressed in my clothing and limping into the kitchen. He used the wall for extra support, but he still looked like he could collapse at any given second.

"Hmm?" I set the towel down on the counter, forgetting about it as I went to help Krad.

He shrunk back as I got closer. "I... er... need some water... is all..."

"Geez. You don't have to be afraid of me..." I pulled another glass out of one of the cupboards and filled it up for him. I turned to give it to him, but for a second I didn't see him. He had, in fact, collapsed and was now on his knees. At least he hadn't blacked out again or something. Kneeling down in front of him, I showed him the glass of water. "You still want this?"

Krad nodded, and reached for it with a shaking hand. I let him grab it, but I didn't let go, steadying the glass as he brought it to his lips. As he drank, I pushed some hair out of his face with my free hand.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened?" I asked yet again when he finished.

"It's not of your concern."

"Sure it is," I argued, getting up to put the glass in the sink. "One would assume that's why I'm asking. I can be concerned."

Krad looked up at me with those glazed and tired eyes that I wasn't used to. "It doesn't _involve_ you," he rephrased.

I sighed in exasperation. "Fine. If you don't want to tell me, I know you're not going to."

Krad looked mildly surprised. Guess he didn't think I'd give up that easily. But the truth was, I'd probably figured it out anyway – sooner or later.

"Can you get back up by yourself?" I wondered.

"Yes," he defended himself, then added, "...eventually..." and, "...maybe..."

"Do you want to stay there until you figure it out or should I just help you?" I offered, leaning against the counter.

That's when Daisuke walked in. "I found the bandages," he said, holding up a first-aid box and giving it a little shake.

Krad reached out his hand for me, still not vocally willing to ask for my help now that he was safe again, and I took it, kneeling down and pulling his arm over my shoulders. I wrapped my arm around his waist and hauled him up. "Let's get you back to the couch."

Daisuke led the way, setting the first-aid down on the coffee table. "I'll go keep watch for mom, if you want."

"Good idea."

I sat down on the couch next to Krad, pulling the white plastic box into my lap. Inside of it, there were bandages of many sizes, some alcohol, and various other things that you might expect to find in a first-aid kit. Krad watched stoically as I tipped alcohol into a piece of cloth and brought it up to his face. He moved away from my hand, so I just stayed as I was until he decided to cooperate, building his trust little by ever-so-little.

Eventually, he leaned back again, wincing as the stuff met a cut on his face. "That means it's working," I told him. Emiko always told me and Daisuke that about the stinging.

"Mm..." he acknowledged.

Behind him, I caught a glimpse of that ugly brown blanket I had found him in. I frowned, and pointed to it. "I'm gonna throw that away, later," I stated.

"Why not now?" Krad asked demurely.

"I'm busy."

He cringed again when I moved on to a deeper cut along his shoulder, stretching his – my, I guess – collar out of the way so I could get at it better. "Oh."

"You're going to have to take your shirt off again," I sighed. That meant I would have to help him put it back on again.

Krad pulled his collar back into place and looked at me frightfully again. "Or you could throw the blanket away and leave my clothes in-tact," he protested quietly.

I stared at him for a long moment and then got up, setting the first-aid back on the table. "Okay. But when I get back, you have to at least let me look at your arm, got it?" He nodded and I snatched up the nasty bundle of fabric on my way out of the house.

As I closed the lid on the garbage can to the side of the house, I saw two people who I really didn't wish to see at the moment.

Emiko and Towa.

Daisuke ran past me to stall them, throwing me a half-reassuring smile as he went. I nodded slightly and rushed back into the house to get Krad out of sight. There was no doubt that Emiko would flip out if she found Krad in her home – regardless of what condition he was in.

I ran over to Krad and accidentally hauled him up by his _worst_ arm, at which point he yelped and pulled away from me, falling back as he did so. I caught him before he could hit his head on something, though, and picked him up.

"What are you doing!?" he protested, tears of panic escaping his golden eyes again.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "Emiko's here." I laid him down on my bed. When he tried to get up, I wouldn't let him, and his legs tensed, drawing closer to his body as the tears fell sideways back into his hair. "Shhh..." I tried to sooth his frantic whimpers. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay?" I said softly. "Just lay here for a minute and I'll be right back." I smoothed his hair back, basically petting it as I waited for him to calm down a bit. "I'll be right back," I repeated, and dashed back down the stairs to hide the first-aid kit away.

I heard the door open just after I flipped on the TV as a cover-up. "Hey, Emiko! Hi, Towa!" I greeted them over my shoulder, switching off the TV again and getting up.

"Hi, sweetie. How did the theft go?" Emiko asked cheerily as Daisuke closed the door behind them.

"It went great, of course," I answered, putting on a smirk.

"Of course," she echoed, laughing.

"I'm going to go hang out in my room for a while," I told her, gesturing over my shoulder with my thumb.

"Okay. Bring the artwork when you come back out," she reminded me.

"Sure thing." Breathing a sigh of relief, I ran back to my room. Krad was still where I had left him. He looked paralyzed, staring up at the ceiling. "Krad...?"

He whined in answer, and I saw another single tear streak across his face. Sitting beside him, I rolled up his right sleeve to look at his arm. It was swollen, and I realized then that his shoulder was dislocated. That was why he could hardly move it – he was lucky that he managed to use it at all.

"I didn't know it was _this_ bad!" Krad met my eyes for once. His face was distorted in fear still, but his eyes pleaded for me to fix it. His arm looked like it had been that way for... well... too long. "How long were you lying out there!?" I demanded.

"I don't know!" Krad rasped, his voice escalating to a scream as I gave his arm a well-plotted yank. "_Stop_!" he cried, and began sobbing. I gave his arm one more pull and it popped back into place, thankfully without too much difficulty.

"Krad," I whispered. "Quiet down. Do you want Emiko to hear you?"

"I already have, Dark." My eyes widened and I looked up quickly to see Emiko standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest expectantly. "Explain. Now."


	3. Chapter 2

_**Broken**_

...Second Part: Dark...

"Explain. Now."

Krad was in too much pain to notice her. "Shhh..." I insisted to him again. "Calm down already."

"Dark!" Emiko was getting impatient waiting for him to answer her. "What is Krad doing in my house!?"

"Just hold on a minute!" I said, raising my voice and holding my hand up for her to cool it. I was beginning to get a headache.

Krad was recovering enough to start trying to swallow his sobs, but his eyes were still unfocused and flowing with tears. He gripped his relocated arm with his healthier one, hugging it to his body in a vain attempt to help ease the pain a little.

"Dark –"

"Does he look like a _threat_ to you right now!!" I shouted fiercely. Krad began to choke, startled by my sudden snarl. Emiko was just as shocked. She stood there, stiff as a post. Knowing that Emiko would recover, I turned my attention back to Krad again and pulled him up to a sitting position, holding him to my chest as his wheezing subsided and he passed out again. "Now, what seems to be the problem, Emiko?"

"I _asked_ why _Krad_ is in my _house_, Dark! I _want_ an _answer_! And don't you _ever_ raise your voice at me – I am your _mother_!"

"Emiko," I argued, "I found him naked and dying by a dumpster in a deserted ally! Are you so heartless that you would've had me leave him there?"

"But he's –"

"He's Krad! I know that!" I motioned for her to come over, still holding Krad securely to my chest, pressing his head against my shoulder as if he were a child. "Come here and just look at him for a minute."

A scowl on her face, Emiko walked over to us to examine Krad's once-again-unconscious state. "I admit it – he looks pretty bad," she said quietly. There was reluctance in her voice, but not even she could retain her hate after seeing him like this.

"I'm going to take care of him," I decided. Krad's slender, damaged fingers curled subconsciously into the fabric of my shirt.

"But don't you think –"

"Emiko –"

"You can never trust –"

"Emiko." I put a hand on her arm to silence her. "No risk involved. I promise."

She looked at me skeptically for a while before giving in. But there was a compromise – one that I had expected. "Okay... but you have to do it on your own. I'm not going to help you."

"That's only what I expected," I said, a bit more cheerily.

Emiko sighed, taking in Krad's appearance one more time. "I guess I'll leave you to it, then..." she relented, and patted my knee gently before she left, showing that she at least understood.

"Thanks Emiko."


	4. Chapter 3

_**Broken**_

...Third Part: Krad...

My shoulder throbbed and my head ached – everything ached – as I felt myself come back out of the darkness again. I could hear a familiar voice... but I couldn't quite place it, and my eyes, sore and no doubt red-rimmed from crying, couldn't make out a clear image, even without the intrusive red spots flitting in front of them.

I felt some measure of security through all the pain, however. I felt the soft pressure of something wrapped around me, and I could identify the feel of a hand cradling my head against something... The touch felt... familiar...

"I'm going to take care of him."

Realization seeped into my mind. The familiarity was... Dark...

Dark.

I curled my fingers into the fabric they rested against, feeling a sliver of... relief...? ...before slipping back under.

. . .

Dark... he found me... after... that... He's... always...

_There were others, the sick bastard. Others besides me. I could hear their screams coming from the other side of the wall; cringed away from them, and cringed away from their tortured, distorted faces as he threw them back into the small concrete room with me._

_We thought about banding together, but we were too scared. We were too weak – even I, regrettably, had not the energy or health anymore to stand up for myself, let alone for others that were complete strangers to me. Before, these people would have been nothings. They still meant little, but when another feeble scrap of life was pulled from the room, everything that made me who I was buckled in fear, then relief that it wasn't me being dragged to the other side of the door, then an even more terrible fear that I could be next._

_The suspension was made worse when the scrap wasn't returned to its place. That meant they never would. That meant death._

_How long until I was that last scrap? How long before this killed me as well? I had outlasted all of my company so far. Somehow... death almost seemed a welcome comfort._

_But every time that door made the subtlest movement, men and women alike – there were generally from three to five kept at a time – would huddle together, awaiting their untimely demise; clinging to the other forms for some feeble sort of comfort._

I dug my aching fingers into the closest thing available, burying my face against its surface in attempt to hide from the dream... the memory...

It was... warm...?

I pulled myself closer to it, desperate not to be pulled away from it.

_One night, I opened my eyes only to find more darkness before me. A terrible stench reached my senses and I tried to recoil from it, but it was everywhere. Beyond the smell of rot and refuse, though, was another, fainter scent. Possibly, it wasn't even a scent, but some other sense._

_Air._

_Lots of air. Lots of space._

_Was I dead? Or wasn't I? I couldn't really tell; couldn't comprehend it. I should be back in a tiny concrete room, surrounded by other abused forms like myself. ...but I wasn't..._

_I was wrapped in a blanket of some kind – one could hardly call it such, for it felt like burlap against my skin. It wasn't at all comfortable, but somehow it was better than nothing; better than concrete._

_And then... someone was there..._

_The tall body of a man towered above me, and I found myself lost to my trauma again. "Please don't touch me..."_

_But it was Dark._

_Of all the people I least expected to see... it was Dark... _

_So... I was... free...?_

_Always... even when I had nearly forgotten..._

_Dark..._

"Dark..."


	5. Chapter 4

_**Broken**_

...Fourth Part: Dark...

"Dark..." I woke to the sound of Krad's voice. That was when I realized that I had fallen asleep lying next to him – it _was_ my bed, after all – and now he was clinging to me as he dreamed. His face was hidden against my chest.

Hesitantly, I wrapped my arms around him. I could feel how thin his was by the spine protruding as lumps from his back, and by his ribcage. Ordinarily, we should be about the same size, but Krad had apparently not eaten since... who-knows-when.

"I'm here," I whispered against the top of his greasy blond head, in answer to his murmurs. His breathing soon evened out into healthier, deeper breaths that were comparably cold against my chest.

. . .

I was the first to wake that next morning, too, which didn't come as much of a surprise. Brushing some tangled hair out of his face, I whispered, "I'll be right back," and went to take a shower.

As the water poured down against my shoulder-blades, I argued with myself on whether to leave Krad to shower by himself, or give him a bath. The latter seemed a better idea, although it would probably be the least enjoyable, if that was even the right word to use.

I washed my hair quickly and got out, wrapping a towel around my waist before filling the bath. If Krad wasn't up yet, I was going to wake him up. He _really_ needed some soap.

Krad was still asleep on my bed when I came back, but now his knees were pulled in closer to his chest and he had managed to tug the pillow from beneath his head and had his arms wrapped around it. He reminded me of a child, hugging a stuffed animal as they slept. Chuckling to myself as I passed him, I began to pull out fresh clothes for the both of us, slipping mine on before deciding to wake him up.

I crawled back onto the bed and shook his shoulder ever so slightly, not wanting to hurt him too much. I wasn't sure yet where his worst injuries were and I didn't want to take any chances with him. "Krad, wake up," I ordered softly. "Come on sleepy-head. Up."

Krad groaned and shifted, holding my pillow tighter. I pried it away from him. "Wake up," I told him again, patting the side of his face lightly.

Opening his eyes, he rolled onto his back to look up at me, grimacing as he did so. "Dark...?"

"In the flesh," I laughed. "Still sore?"

He glared at me. "What do you think, idiot?"

"Krad! You're back!" I mocked him. Obviously if he had a little bite back in his speech – even half-hearted as it sounded – a good night's sleep in a bed had done him some good. "Come on," I directed, getting back to business. "You need a bath _really_ badly."

Krad was able to sit up by himself, and then stand briefly, but I had to catch him as his legs gave out under him, and I helped him limp to the bathroom.

"Will you be okay on your own?" I asked. I wasn't going to wash him if I didn't need to.

"I think I can take a bath, Dark," he chided.

I shrugged. "You never know unless you ask, I guess."

"Do you have a hairbrush?" he asked.

"Uhm... Yeah...?"

He confessed, "That, I could use some help with."

"Take a bath first," I told him. "I'll brush your hair after it's _clean_."

"Fair enough."

"Don't be afraid to call for me if you need help with anything," I told him before leaving. "Alright?"

He nodded, and I left him to it.

. . .

I was busy pulling the dirty sheets off of my bed when Krad stumbled out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. "Didn't I give you clean clothes?" I wondered, a bit confused.

"Apparently not," Krad said, sitting back on his heels and examining his palm for a moment.

I walked over to him with a bundle of black and red in my possession, and held my free hand out to him.

"I may need more than just... your hand... Dark..." he decided as he struggled to stand again.

"You can do it," I assured him. "Think of it as... therapy," I suggested.

"Therapy for what?"

"Uhm..." I thought for a moment. "Muscle therapy," I stated, handing him the clothes I'd picked out and turning back to my sheets as he got dressed. I threw the sheets out into the hall to remind myself to throw them in the washroom later if someone didn't trip over them by then and ventured back into the bathroom for a hairbrush.

I managed to startle Krad by sneaking up behind him, wrapping my arm securely around his waist as he began to collapse again. After directing him to sit on the bed, and crawling onto it behind him, I began to brush his damp hair, carefully picking through the knots and just combing through the insanely long strands.

"Dark...?"

"Hmm?"

"Why... Why are you doing this?" Krad asked, his voice becoming unusually soft again.

I contemplated the question for a long time, searching my brain for a reason, but finally, all I found I could answer was, "Honestly... I don't really know."

Krad didn't respond.

"I don't have any hair ties," I realized, frowning. He always worn his hair in a pony-tail.

Krad shrugged, silently pulling his hair over his shoulder and beginning to braid it.

"I guess..." I began, resting my forehead lightly against his back. "...it just... wouldn't have been right to leave you there."

"To leave a monster?" Krad glanced over his shoulder at me, questioningly.

I looked back up at him thoughtfully through the stray violet strands that hung in front of my face. "To leave a victim."

Krad turned his face away quickly, but I still saw the tears that slid down his face... again.


	6. Chapter 5

_**Broken**_

...Fifth Part: Krad...

"To leave a victim."

I would never be able to stop the tears anymore, so I jerked my head away hoping to hide them. More sprung into my eyes at the pain I felt in my neck, but I ignored those. It wasn't as bad as it was before.

But... a victim? I never would have used that word. I didn't know what word I _would_ use. I was just... there.

Dark's head was resting against my back pleasantly. Did he trust me...? Or was it because I was what he said? A victim? ...Weak?

I felt his hand slide along my arm and the pressure against my back vanished. "Come on," he said quietly. "You should eat something."

I blinked, incomprehensive for a moment. I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten anything. Suddenly I felt the starvation catch up to me and I couldn't stand. Dark leaned over me, wiping the tears off of my face with his thumbs, and tilted my head up for me to look at him.

"You okay?"

"Just hungry," I muttered, pulling away from his hands.

A small smirk lit Dark's face. "See? That's what I thought." I noticed him hesitate. I panicked a little when his arm slid under my legs, but forced myself to calm down again at his soft muttering. He picked me up and carried me out of the room. It was kind of belittling, not being able to walk on my own – but at least that was all it was. It wasn't about survival anymore.

Dark set me down on my feet and I leaned on the dining table for support, regaining my balance before sitting down. By that time, Dark had already disappeared to the kitchen.

. . .

I jumped at a knock on the door, whipping my head around to find where the sound was coming from, and saw Daisuke run to answer it. I raked my fingers back through my hair, hoping to clear my head a bit as I picked apart a knot that Dark had bypassed.

"Satoshi! What are you doing here?"

I looked back over at the door disbelievingly, waiting for someone to walk in – and he did. There he was, just as I remembered him.

"Dark called me," he stated.

Daisuke looked at him questioningly. "_Dark_ called you...?"

"You know the murder cases that have gotten so much publicity lately?" Daisuke nodded. "Dark said he found a survivor," Satoshi explained, watching Daisuke's expression shift curiously, "so I was obligated to come and check to see if he was telling the truth."

Dark walked past me, and I stiffened at the hand that ran along my shoulders as he went. "I _am_ telling the truth," he insisted, leading Satoshi back to where I was sitting on the couch. "Commander, meet –"

"Krad!?"

Dark smirked. "Yep."


	7. Chapter 6

_**Broken**_

...Sixth Part: Krad...

"The first thing I need from you is a description," Satoshi said, sitting on a chair across from me. He was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, studying me with intense cerulean eyes.

Dark sat down next to me, crossing his legs one over the other. Daisuke was perched on the arm on the couch on the thief's other side. They all waited for me to speak.

"He had rough, calloused hands," I began, shuddering. My face scrunched up in disgust even before the words were out. That was what I remembered the most vividly about him.

. . .

"_He's waking up," someone – a female voice – whispered. It wasn't one I recognized._

_My back of my skull throbbed painfully. I tried to open my eyes._

_I heard the footsteps of another being approach me. They weren't wearing shoes; the sound was too soft._

_Another voice – this time male – spoke. "I wonder who he is," it said sadly._

_Finally, I managed to get my eyes open and sat up to find a man and a woman sitting on the floor next to me. Another girl was huddled in the corner of the room. "What's your name?" she asked in a high, airy voice. She had long, white-blond hair that framed her shoulders and glassy honey-brown eyes. There were bruises and puffy red blotches all over her pale skin – her very_ naked_, pale skin – and was bleeding from a cut that stretched across the bridge of her nose._

"_Where the hell am I!?" I demanded._

_The other woman sitting next to me lowered her wavy brunette head to stare down at the cold, concrete flooring. "We don't know," she said meekly._

"_What's your name?" the airy-voiced girl insisted on knowing._

"_Krad," I stated, examining the room for a possible way out. There was one window, but it was walled off with more concrete, and there was a door._

"_I'm Hoshiko," she told me._

_I didn't acknowledge her, busy calculating the strength of the demure grey walls._

"_You can't get out," Hoshiko said. Her voice was eerily calm. It was dead; hopeless._

"_We've tried," the man confirmed. This one was tall and slender, with broad shoulders but a weak posture. His hair was also blond, though darker than mine._

_I began to see a pattern in these people... but the brunette threw me off._

. . .

"And...?" Satoshi almost looked impatient. I shook my head to clear the memory I'd slipped into and Dark rested his hand on my leg.

"They're probably going to need more to go off of than his hands, Krad." I pushed his hand away uneasily.

"Although, that does narrow down the search a bit," Satoshi explained. "Calloused hands could be an indicator that he does some kind of heavy labor... But I still do need more."

Sighing, I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate, though I _really_ did not want to.

_The air froze as we all heard the lock on the door unlatch, and we watched, huddled together as the handle twisted. _I gripped someone's hand _as it opened, and the monster keeping us there stepped into the room. He looked angry._

_Towering above us – he would have even if we weren't on the floor; about 6 feet or so in height – he glared down at his stolen possessions, looking us each over, one by one, with ugly grey eyes that almost matched the concrete room._

_His arm extended and he bent over, reaching for me. I put my arms up to block his hand, but he only grabbed my wrist and yanked, pulling me away from my company and literally dragging me away. As much as I hated that small, isolated room, it was better than being on this side of the door._

_He hauled me over to a makeshift table and shoved me backward onto it, twisting my arm before he let go of my wrist. I tried not to cry out, but I did. I couldn't help it. I was terrified._

"Krad! Snap out of it!" Dark said, snapping his fingers in front of my face to bring me out of my now wide-eyed trance. My face itched from salty trails where tears had begun to act up on me again, so I rubbed them away with my sleeve.

"Sorry," I whispered, almost inaudibly. I looked back over to Satoshi, who seemed mildly perplexed. "He was at least six feet tall," I recalled; "broad, strong..." I shuddered again. "He looked to be somewhere in his late forties, I think... and his hair was graying."

Satoshi nodded. "That definitely gives us something to go off of..." he considered.

"I think we were in a basement," I noted. "He kept us in a room made completely out of concrete."

Satoshi thought on the new information for a moment before standing up. "I should go," he said. "Thanks... for your help, Krad."

I managed a small smile, but I don't think the change was great enough to notice. It faded almost instantly, however, when a new thought crossed my mind. "You didn't report me missing."

Satoshi sighed deeply. He was arguing with himself about something, I could tell. "That's because..."

"You don't have to say it, Satoshi," Dark interrupted. "...I think he knows."

He never missed me. No one did. They were probably happy I was gone. Yes, I knew...

As the door closed behind Satoshi, I turned to Dark, looking right into his deep violet eyes, searching for something. I found conflict in him, too. And I saw... sadness, I think.

"I'm sorry," he apologized softly. And as something squeezed my hand, I realized he actually meant it.


	8. Chapter 7

_**Broken**_

...Seventh Part: Satoshi...

I sat at my computer, trying to read, but the only thing my mind could focus on was the incessant grinding of saws and pounding of hammers. We were adding on to the building, and even though I worked on the other end of the vicinity, the racket still sounded like it was right on top of my head. I couldn't concentrate.

Wait...

I went back to the notes I had typed up on Krad's kidnapper. 'At least six feet tall, broad stature, calloused hands, mid-to-late-forties, can lift...' I stood up quickly from my seat, nearly knocking the chair over as I did so.

"Commander?" someone worried as they walked by.

"It's nothing," I told them, and walked briskly off to the site of construction.

Was the perpetrator really right under our noses?

I walked around beams or both wood and steel, examining the height of each and every worker as I walked by them. Greatly to my frustration, not one of them stood over 5'9" or possibly 5'10". Not one reached a full six feet, let alone any higher measurement.

"Commander, you shouldn't be in this area," a man I assumed to be the contractor said from behind me. "It's not safe."

I turned to him, taking note of his height as well. The man wasn't much taller than myself.

Grumbling to myself, I headed back to my desk.


	9. Chapter 8

_**Broken**_

...Eighth Part: Dark...

Krad's injuries were healing well, but he still talked in his sleep a lot. On good nights, he might murmur my name or ask someone to stop whatever it was they were doing to him. On bad nights, he woke up terrified and crying. And on really bad nights... I generally woke to puncture wounds in my arms where his fingernails had dug into them, or the whole household woke to his screaming. As long as he was conscious, though, he was fine.

"So what do I do now?" Krad wondered at breakfast one morning.

"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled.

"I have nothing to accomplish," he confided, poking at a sausage link in boredom and propping his head up on his fist. "At first, all I wanted as my own body. I have that now. I wanted to kill you and your little Daisuke – but now I don't. It would be utterly pointless now..." He glanced up at me for a moment and quickly averted his gaze again. "...and I would hate myself for it," he added. "And when I was captured... and..." Krad paused for a long while, glaring down at his food. "I... all I wanted was to escape. Now I'm free again, and Satoshi's already busy tracking that bastard down. I've done all that I could have there." He sighed and didn't say any more.

"I think you need some fresh air," I said. "After breakfast, how about we take a walk or something?"

Krad shrugged, but he started eating again.

. . .

"Do you _always_ have this many people staring at you?" Krad complained, stepping a little farther away from me.

I flashed a smirk at a couple of girls who were waving as they walked by. Krad kept his eyes on the blond one uneasily as they went. "Jealous?" I teased.

Krad shook his head and looked down at the sidewalk.

"What?" There was obviously something wrong. "Was it that girl?" I was so confused.

"She had blond hair," he said simply, as if that would explain everything.

"Yeah. Well, so do you," I stated the obvious. "And lots of it. What's your point?"

"That exactly_ is_ the point," Krad insisted. "He likes blonds, Dark..."

Oh.

'He'.

"Did you tell Satoshi that?" I asked.

"No. I figured he would already have detected the pattern."

"Hmm..."

"There was one outlier, though..." Krad told me, looking over at me with puzzlement in his eyes. "A brunette – just one. She said her name was Amelia... She was thrown out before I was."

"Do you think she's still alive?" I wondered.

Krad kicked a rock sidelong across the street. "I doubt it. He only throws them away if they're dead."

I stopped walking, thinking that over. "He thought you were _dead_? ...Lucky break," I added as an afterthought.

"Lucky?" Krad scoffed. "The only reason I'm not currently getting eaten by maggots in some trash heap is because you found me, and like the strange man you are, brought your enemy home with you. Arbitrary coincidence, dear Mousy, not luck. _Luck_ might've been if I were never kidnapped in the first place! If I would never have had by back turned! Or if I would've had enough energy to blast that damn place apart!"

I didn't know what to say.


	10. Chapter 9

_**Broken**_

...Ninth Part: Krad...

I steered off the sidewalk to sit against the wall of a building, pulling my knees up to my chest and burying my face in my arms, intent on staying that way until I cooled down again.

Dark came and sat down beside me – he didn't say anything, didn't touch me; just sat there with me.

"You have no idea what it was like..." I choked, and still Dark didn't utter a single word.

. . .

_I was terrified._

_He shoved me down flat on the table and wouldn't let me up. I clenched my legs together and tightly closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to look at him. He grabbed my wrists. "No!" I yelped, beginning to struggle. I tried vainly to wrench my arms from his grasp, but my wretched, unhealthy, feeble state couldn't at all compare to the effortless strength of the other. "Please don't..." I squeaked, but he ignored me, strapping first one wrist and then the other to the table._

"_Shut up and open your eyes, bitch," he growled._

_Reluctantly, I opened my eyes again, staring up at the copper pipes running along the ceiling. I fought off a whine when he touched me. I would never forget what his hands felt like. My chest convulsed in silent sobs, and I felt my body start to react to what he was doing to it._

"_Stop..." I pleaded as he continued to toy with me. "...please...!" I pulled at the restraints on my wrists but they wouldn't budge._

_I felt his mouth on my erection and I cringed in disgust. Raperaperaperaperape!! And this wasn't the first time. It wouldn't be the last, either, because I was going to live through this round._

"_Get away from me you filthy bastard!" I lost it. I kicked as hard as I could – and screamed when he bit me. Tears flowed freely across my face, now, dripping into my ears and my hair. As if biting me hadn't been enough, he unstrapped me from the table and pushed me to the ground, putting a heavy boot to my back when I tried to get back up and make a run for the stairs on the opposite side of the room. By my ankle, he dragged me farther away from my only escape route, stepping on my back so I wouldn't try again. "Let me go!" I wailed, clawing at the ground in a desperate attempt to pull free._

"_Not a chance."_

_I wrapped my arms around my head for a very false sense of security. It hurt. Everything hurt. And my ankle was sprained now as well._

_Right there on the floor, he turned me onto my back again, prying my thighs apart with his thick fingers. Kneeling on my legs temporarily to hold them open, he unfastened his pants. I couldn't look. As he thrust mercilessly into me, I felt something tear. Blood trickled down my thighs. I was in pain. And whoever this was just kept insisting on inflicting more and more..._

_When he was done with me, I was flung back into the concrete room. I just lay there on the ground, shuddering, sobbing, and bleeding until I finally passed out into the darkness of temporary freedom from it all._

. . .

Finally, Dark did something. Wrapping his arms around me, he pulled me close to him. Gently. He still didn't find anything to say, but at least he was there, and he may not know anything about my situation – healed, but still broken – but he was still there to pick up the pieces when they all fell apart.

I didn't think I'd ever be able to live without him anymore. My enemy... yeah, right...

He finally spoke. "We should probably go home."

I shook my head 'No', and another sob dislodged itself from my throat. "Not yet..."

"Okay..." Dark whispered.


	11. Chapter 10

_**Broken**_

...Tenth Part: Dark...

"Okay..."

Krad turned toward me, burying his face in my chest as I held him in protection from his no doubt gruesome memories. He pulled his arms around my waist, and then the strangest phrase came out of his mouth. "I think I love you," he whispered. I could have been mistaken – he was muffled against my shirt.

I didn't have time to respond before I spotted two shoes in front of me. "What's troubling your friend, there?" a gruff voice asked. He seemed nice, even through the gravely tone, but the instant the man uttered the beginning of a sound, his whole body went rigid.

I looked up at the big man hovering over us and gave him a friendly grin, although Krad's actions raised caution. "Oh, he'll be alright – girlfriend troubles," I lied, giving the man an excuse for the blond's crying.

"You his brother or something?" he asked.

"Yeah," I lied again, smoothly. "We're very close," I added, holding Krad tighter. I hoped he would recognize the message.

Krad's shoulders relaxed slightly, but his legs were still tense, pressed together and leaning against mine.

"Are you sure he's alright?" Would this guy never leave? He sounded concerned, but...

"Yes, thanks for asking."

"Sure thing, kid." He turned around and began to walk away. I watched him for a while, until he was out of sight.

"He's gone, Krad," I said.

Krad slowly unwound his arms from my waist. "I want to go home now," he whispered.

Standing up, I grabbed his hand and we began to walk again – toward a payphone. I didn't have a cell phone on hand. Once I found one, I dug in my pockets for change. Luckily, I had some.

I dialed Satoshi's number.

'Commander Hiwatari,' he answered.

"Satoshi!"

'_Dark_?'

"I met Krad's kidnapper a few minutes ago," I told him pleasantly.

'You have _got_ to be kidding me. I thought you were with Krad.'

"I am. He didn't recognize him. Krad was having another of his break-downs, and the guy came right up to me and asked what was wrong."

'Where are you?'

I looked around, but I didn't see a street sign. "Uhm... I don't exactly know."

'_That's_ helpful,' Satoshi remarked sarcastically. His voice was bitter.

"I may not be able to tell you where he went, but he was wearing a jacket with a name on it: Ogata. I thought maybe that could help." I hung up without waiting for a reply. Krad was gripping my hand with both of his, looking really jittery. "Alright," I told him. "Now we can leave." As we walked back, I continued, "Satoshi has a name, now. That should help narrow down the search."


	12. Chapter 11

_**Broken**_

...Eleventh Part: Satoshi...

"Who is he?" a detective asked, looking in on the interrogation.

"Hotarou Ogata," I told him.

"Are you sure that's our guy?"

I pointed at the tall man. "He fits our description perfectly," I stated, "and once we get a warrant, we'll be able to search his basement. If we find even just the scene as our witness describes..."

"...He's definitely our perp.," the detective filled in the blanks.

I nodded.

As if on cue, someone else walked in with the warrant they were looking for. Perfect.

. . .

I headed back to my desk with the document and picked up the phone. I owed a call to someone.


	13. Chapter 12

_**Broken**_

...Twelfth Part: Dark...

Krad sat on the end of my – our – bed, watching a program on the Sci-Fi channel. Stretching and raking my fingers through my damp hair, I gestured to the bathroom. "It's all yours," I offered. "Take a shower. It'll be good for you."

"Okay." He switched off the TV and got up. "Got any pajamas I can wear?"

I smirked, tousling his hair a bit. "You know I do."

"I should really get some of my own," he considered.

I shrugged. "We'll worry about that another day." I dug out some pajamas and tossed them to him, watching as he walked away into the other room.

With a sigh, I flopped back onto the bed, folding my arms beneath my head and staring up at the ceiling. _"I think I love you,"_ Krad's muffled words echoed through my head – not for the first time that night. I still wasn't quite sure if I had heard right. I shook my head to clear it, sitting up again.

I decided I was bored, so I turned the TV back on, just out of curiosity. There wasn't much on that looked interesting.

Then my cell phone rang. It was sitting on top of the TV. The second ring sounded, and then the third before I decided to get up and answer it. "Hello?"

'Dark? It's Satoshi.'

"What's up?" I wondered.

'We found Ogata. He's in custody,' Satoshi explained.

"That's great!" I began to walk toward the bathroom to tell Krad.

'And there's one other detail that I thought you'd find interesting.' I stopped, waiting for him to go on. 'Hotarou Ogata had an accomplice. A woman named Amelia Ogata – his _sister_.'

"Oh, that's creepy," I commented. "Wait... Did you just say her name was _Amelia_?"

'Yes, I did.'

"Krad told me that she was another victim. He told me she _died_..." It didn't make any sense.

'That was what she appeared to be, but she wasn't.'

"What do you mean?"

'Amelia only pretended to be a victim. She admitted that she liked watching people's fear. She could get into their heads and mess with them mentally.'

"That's sick," I spat.

'I know,' Satoshi agreed. 'The good news, however, is that neither of them are going to get out of here any time soon.'

"Thanks, Satoshi. ...You know, Krad almost had it figured out about Amelia."

'How?'

"She was the only brunette." I hung up the phone, knowing that Satoshi was done talking to me anyway.

I knocked on the bathroom door and heard something drop. "Geez, Dark!" he shouted at me. "_Warn_ me before touching the door!"

"Well, I'm sorry big slabs of wood scare you, honey," I laughed.

"What did you just call me?"

"Never mind. Can I come in?" I didn't actually think he'd let me. I could tell him when he came out.

"...Yes." Well, okay then.

I saw his silhouette flinch behind the curtain when the door opened, but the reaction was slowly fading as days went by, so I wasn't too concerned. He poked his soaked head around the edge of the curtain expectantly.

"I've got some good news," I began, beaming.

"What is it?"

"Satoshi called."

"And...?"

"They got 'him," I told him, letting a wide, triumphant smirk come across my face.

Krad's eyes widened, and the happiness in his face startled me more than then first time I saw him cry – but it was fantastic. "They did? Really?"

I nodded once. "You bet they did."

Surprising me for a second time in less than a minute, Krad threw his arms around my shoulders, soaking me with cold water. Laughing, I hugged him back, holding his naked body close. He was safe. And so was every other possible victim out there, now.

Pulling back a bit, I pressed our lips together in a long kiss.

When we separated again, Krad stared at me disbelievingly. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't. His head moved and it looked like he was trying to force some kind of comprehensible sound out, but it still wasn't working. Suddenly, taking my head between his slender hands, he kissed me back, closing his eyes in concentration. Our lips moved together and I had to admit, that nothing could've felt more natural.


	14. Chapter 13

_**Broken**_

...Thirteenth Part: Krad...

I was lying on top of Dark, resting my head on his chest as he played with strands of my hair, twisting it around his fingers absently. The hand that wasn't playing with my hair was pressed against my lower back, warm against the skin beneath my borrowed pajama shirt.

It felt strange, the security. Knowing that my kidnapper was locked behind bars came as a great relief. That meant he couldn't find me again. He couldn't hurt me again. And with that resolved, it hardly reached my mind anymore. I had a new sensation running through my head that engulfed me completely. It had been there ever since Dark first kissed me.

"You know what, Krad?" he murmured against my hair, pressing his lips against my scalp briefly.

"Hmm?"

"I think I love you, too."

Grinning, I moved to kiss him again. Dark slipped his hand around the back of my neck, kissing me back and making it last longer than I would have – but I didn't mind. There wasn't anything that I could remember enjoying more than the thief's lips against mine, or against my skin in general. He could kiss my face, my back, my shoulders; it made no difference to me.

After I was broken, I thought, Dark had put me back together backward. I had some memories of the person I had been before acquiring my own body, and I wondered at how much things had turned around.

"Dark!? What are you doing in there!?" Emiko's voice shouted from the hall.

"Nothing!" Dark shouted back, muttering, "Geez..."

"Don't think you can fool me, Dark! Stop making out with Krad and go to bed!" Emiko hollered before walking away again.

"How does she figure this stuff out?" I wondered. Emiko Niwa was a very puzzling woman.

Dark laughed. "She's a mom," he explained humorously. "Moms know everything – and don't try to tell one otherwise." He claimed my lips again before I could ask why. "Good night, Krad," he said softly.

I slipped my hand into his, twining our fingers together. "Should be..."


	15. Chapter 14

_**Broken**_

...Fourteenth Part: Daisuke...

I headed toward the front door, passing Dark and Krad on my way out. Krad was sitting next to the thief, curled against his side with his legs swung over Dark's. They were watching a movie – I didn't bother to figure out which it was.

"Mom! I'm going to visit Satoshi!" I called back over my shoulder.

"Daisuke, it's pouring rain out there," she argued, coming out of the kitchen.

I shrugged. "I don't mind."

"And besides that, Satoshi is working," she added.

"So? I'll bet it gets boring in the office," I pointed out. I didn't really believe that – Sato could probably survive through any boring situation imaginable – but I really wanted to see him. He was my best friend, and I hadn't talked to him in weeks.

I didn't wait for her permission before heading out the door, but she didn't yell at me, so that was a good sign.

Trudging through the rain, I took in the appearance of a drenched Azumano, memorizing the differences for if I ever felt like painting it. I looked at the shine of the clear, pure water, and how it made everything sparkle or glisten. Despite how dark and dreary the place was without sun or stars shining down on it, everything really looked beautiful; sort of refreshing. A small smile traced over my lips.

. . .

The recently added-on-to building came into view; a combination of office space at one end and a secure jail at the other. A couple of guards stood out in the rain, conversing.

I took a step closer, and simultaneously a bright wave of heat met my vision, followed closely by an ear-damaging _BANG_.

"SATOSHI!" I shrieked, realizing very quickly what had happened. I ran with other passers-by to see the destruction of the jail wing of the building, watching helplessly as the fire from the explosion grew and spread.


	16. Chapter 15

_**Broken**_

...Fifteenth Part: Dark...

I flipped through different channels since our movie had finished, simply out of boredom.

"Dark, go back to that other one!" Emiko said, her worried words coming out in a rushed slur.

Confused, I turned back to the channel that looked to be a newscast.

/'...violent explosion, creating a massive hole at the back of the building. We're not sure yet how many have escaped, or how many even survived...'/

The three of us stared, wide-eyed at the reporter and the scene behind her, deaf to the rest of her speech.

/'Look!'/ someone shouted. The camera refocused, aiming deeper into the smoke. /'It's... Commander Hiwatari! He's made it out safely! But who is that with him...?'/ Through the smog, we could see Daisuke, helping Satoshi walk out of the disaster, couching, choking, and smeared with ash, but otherwise alright.

A microphone was held out to the red-head. /'What's your name?'/ they asked him.

/'Daisuke Niwa'/ he answered. With a smile he looked into the camera. /'Hi, Mom. I'm okay.'/

"That was really reckless, Dai!" Emiko scolded his image, but it was evident from her voice how relieved she was that he wasn't toast.

Firefighters finally arrived on the scene and doused the fire quickly. /'Stay tuned for more updates.'/

"I'm going to go pick up Daisuke and Satoshi," Emiko announced, rushing out of the house.

I noticed then how incredibly tense Krad had become. His eyes were wide with a terror that I hadn't seen in him for at least a month, if not more. I thought it had been gone for good. ...Wishful thinking.

"Krad? What's wrong?"

"Some of them _escaped_?" he squeaked.

"We don't know that, yet," I reasoned, smoothing his blond hair back, away from his color-drained face. "They could be nothing more than charcoal now, for all we know."

'They', of course, being Hotarou and Amelia Ogata.

"I highly doubt that," Krad quavered. "If they managed to figure out a way to restrict my magic, they definitely got out of there alive."

"They did _what_?" I asked, perplexed.

"Honestly, Dark," he said, gripping the dark fabric of my shirt in his fist. "Did you think I ever would have left that goddamn place in-tact if I had been able to use my magic?" Krad looked exasperated beneath the layers of fear clouding his eyes.

All those fears were doubled as the news reporter listed off the names of missing individuals, both employee and criminal.

"Don't let them find me...!"


	17. Chapter 16

_**Broken**_

...Sixteenth Part: Satoshi...

"Thanks, Daisuke," I said, coughing some more of the smoke out of my lungs as I sat next to him on the back bumper of the ambulance.

"No problem – I couldn't just leave you in there." He gave me another of his innocent smiles while a doctor bandaged one of his hands.

"Hmm..."

"I was actually coming to visit you," the red-head admitted. "I haven't seen you around since the Ogata case closed."

Just then one of the office employees came running up to me and handed me a half-sheet of paper. "This is a list of names of the criminals we've deemed missing. We don't know how many of them got caught in the fire, yet, or how many escaped..."

"Thank you," I said, looking down at the paper and scanning through the thankfully short list of names. The man nodded in acknowledgement. "Have they given these names to the media yet?"

"They have," he confirmed. "Reporters began listing them to viewers about five or six minutes ago."

My face paled a bit as my eyes latched onto two names in specific.

"Satoshi? What is it?" Daisuke wondered, peering over at the paper. "What's wrong?"

I stood up, ignoring the crowd of people who watched as I walked quickly away from the scene. Daisuke hurried after me.

"Satoshi? Tell me what's going on!" he insisted.

"Krad's probably panicking," I told him without further explanation. "We need to get back to your house."

With perfect timing, a car stopped in front of us. The window rolled down, and I Emiko's head poked out of the driver's side. "Dai! Satoshi! Are you two alright?"

"We're fine, Mom," Daisuke assured her, climbing into the car. "Come on, Sato."

. . .

I heard shouting coming from the other side of the door as we neared the entrance to the Niwa house. I recognized the voice to be Krad's, but the tone of it threw me off a bit. He must be panicking more that I had originally thought.

Dark yelled something back at him and the noise ceased for a moment.

I decided to risk it and opened the door, Daisuke and Emiko close behind me.


	18. Chapter 17

_**Broken**_

...Seventeenth Part: Dark...

Krad was losing it again. But this time, he was being overly defensive of himself. Gold magic glowed at his fingertips as he shouted at me. "What if they find me!?"

"They _will_ find you if you don't cool it!" I snapped back at him. As I stepped closer, he stepped farther back toward the wall. He promptly shut up, and I noticed he was shaking. "Look," I said, "if anyone tries to hurt you again, I'll kill 'em. Got it?"

The door latch clicked. Oh, great...

Satoshi ducked as a ball of sunlight-colored energy can flying in his direction. It missed him and Daisuke jumped back out of its way. The doorframe now had a nice chunk missing from it.

"Nice shot," I told Krad sarcastically. "You almost took someone's head off."

"That could have been the plan," Krad muttered, gulping as Satoshi stood up again, glaring at him.

"That's the second time in the last half-hour that I could have been killed," Satoshi stated irately. "I know what this is about, Krad, but no one's figured out yet if they escaped the explosion or not. They're still searching for bodies."

"That's what _I_ told him," I informed the Commander. "He's convinced they've escaped."

"There's no probable explanation why they _wouldn't've_!" he wailed. "And if they see me they're going to come after me again!"

I sighed. "Now you're just being paranoid."

"I am not!" he protested.

"Krad, they think you're dead," Satoshi reminded him.

"But –" I pressed my mouth over his to interrupt him. Unsurprisingly, in his panic-attack, he shoved me away and covered his face with his arms, sinking to the floor.

I stepped back, waiting for him to calm down.

"You didn't have to go and do that, Dark," Daisuke said, looking down at the blond guy with a hint of sympathy showing through his crimson eyes.

"Yes, I did," I argued. I knelt down in front of him. "Krad... Uncover your face, Angel; it's just me." When he only buried his face deeper in his arms, I reached over and tapped his wrist. "Come on, Krad. Look at me. You're okay, see?"

Slowly, he looked up at me again. "Why did you do that?" he accused.

"I needed to get you to calm down," I explained simply.

"By kissing me?"

"It worked, didn't it?" I pointed out, standing again and holding my hand out to him. "I know you like it when I kiss you – you told me that, yourself."

Krad took my hand and I helped him up, drawing him into my arms. "You scared the hell out of me," he told me.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, "but you _were_ overreacting."

"Yes," Satoshi seconded. "You were." Daisuke nodded. I ignored them both.

. . .

Krad sat with me on the couch between my legs so that I could brush his hair. Satoshi and Daisuke sat squished next to each other on the other side of the couch. We had decided to put in another movie as a distraction and just something to do as the rain continued on.

I pulled the brush gently through Krad's long hair again. It wasn't tangled or anything, but it gave him something pleasant to focus on. That, and it gave me an extra excuse to mess with his hair. Setting the hairbrush on the arm of the couch, I combed my fingers through the gold silk strands, pulling it back from his handsome face.

Krad glanced at me sideways. "What?"

"I'm just admiring you," I said cheerfully, slipping my arms around his waist. His hair fell out of order again as I let go, cascading down his back. "Are you feeling better yet?"

"A little," he admitted, turning his head to look at me better.

"Good." I kissed the corner of his lips briefly. "You look tired," I noted.

"I am." Krad yawned, settling back against my chest and laying his arms over mine.

"Try not to have any nightmares?" I suggested.

"You know I can't control what I dream, Mousy – no one can."

I shrugged and rested the side of my face against his hair. "Just remember that I'm right here if you need me. Okay?"

"I'll be _sure_ to take note of that when I'm _unconscious_."

"Don't be such a smart-ass," I retorted. "I only bug you because I care."

A slight grin crossed Krad's features. "You're starting to sound like Emiko," he remarked.

"Am not!"

He raised a skeptical eyebrow at me before laughing.

"Just shut up and go to sleep," I said, poking him in the stomach.

"I love you, too," he sniffed. Krad closed his eyes, threading his fingers between mine before drifting off to sleep.

I smirked, kissing the side of his hair.

"How sweet." Satoshi had a look on his face that consisted of a confused mix between amusement and something else that stated how bizarre he thought our relationship was.

I stuck my tongue out at him childishly. "You're just jealous," I taunted.

Satoshi nearly laughed. "Yes, Dark. Completely," he said, voice laced with heavy sarcasm.

I don't think Daisuke even noticed. He was still wrapped up in the movie.


	19. Chapter 18

_**Broken**_

...Eighteenth Part: Krad...

_My whole body ached from the separation, and my energy had been reduced to much less than half. I stumbled through Azumano, tripping on nothing at all and falling to the ground. I could hear the running water of the large fountain nearby and the crash of waves from the ocean just over the edge of the cliff. Everything else was deathly quiet._

_I struggled to stand again, cursing as I slipped on the dew-covered grass and lost my balance again. This was getting to be ridiculous. I didn't bother with my wings. If I couldn't walk anywhere, then I certainly wasn't going to fly._

"_Hey, there. Can I help you?" a gravelly voice asked. I followed the two shoes in front of my face up to the face of whomever it was that was talking to me._

"_I'm perfectly fine," I lied stubbornly. My irritation gave me the energy enough to at least stand. "Now would you mind getting away from me?" I growled. I was tired, cold, and now my own body had its own hunger issues._

_I turned and tromped away from the stranger, rubbing my arms to try and relieve some of the night chill._

_A sharp pain shot through my head from the back of my skull, and the world sealed itself into oblivion._

. . .

I shot upright out of my sleep, only to be restrained by Dark's arms still wrapped around my waist. But at least they were _Dark's_ arms.

"Krad...?" Dark sat up behind me, taking his arms away from me to stretch. "What's up?"

I yawned, turning sideways in the thief's lap to curl up against his chest. "Just a dream," I sighed.

"You sure you're okay?" Dark interrogated me.

"Yes, Dark. I'm fine. Now go back to sleep." I closed my eyes, feeling a lot better being here with Dark than tumbling across cold, damp grass. "Oh – and Dark," I added before falling asleep again. "I was wrong about them restricting my magic."

"And you figured this out... how?"

"The day I was kidnapped," I told him, "was the day we were separated from our tamers." I knew Dark would be able to recall what it first felt like to have his own body, if it was anything at all like what _I_ had experienced.

"That makes more sense," he relented. "...So... you went missing from day one?" Dark's embrace tightened around me subconsciously.

I nodded.

"What happened to you, anyway?" he wondered.

"I got hit in the back of my head and blacked out. When I woke up, I must've been too disoriented to realize that my magic wasn't going to work because of severe lack of energy rather than something someone else had done to me. And the notion just stuck. I didn't question it..."

"Until now," Dark added. "You had one of your weird memory-nightmares again, didn't you?"

I yawned, pressing my face into Dark's shirt. "Yes, I did."


	20. Chapter 19

_**Broken**_ (A/N: Dark's goin' crazy!)

...Nineteenth Part: Dark...

"I seriously need to get some air!" I announced. "I don't care if it's still raining." Four... freaking... days... later...!

"Aren't you going to take Krad with you?" Emiko wondered, looking puzzled.

I shook my head. I had spent nearly every moment of my time with him since... well, for a long time. "I need some time to myself," I told her, sighing. "I think he can live without me for a couple hours."

. . .

Of course, there was practically no one outside. Halfway through my walk around town, I decided that this was really kind of boring. Even though it was somewhere around midday, it was dark and cloudy, which didn't liven thing up much at all.

So my mind began to wander. And where did it go?

Straight back to Krad.

I stopped briefly to smack my head against the side of a brick building, only to recoil from the completely pointless action, holding my head in my hands and complaining about the pain. "Ow..."

I didn't do it because I was thinking of Krad, really, but _what_ I had begun to think concerning him. It was a notion that I couldn't quite wrap my brain around, even though the guy was the one person now that I might lose my sanity over if I didn't hold him or kiss him or just see him around every single day. I loved him, but... some things just weren't quite fathomable to a thief whose previous obsession happened to be over _women_.

And besides, he would probably be pretty... nervous... about those kind of advances...

I shook my head violently to try to clear it, which just made my headache worse. I hoped I wouldn't get a massive bruise on my forehead from my stupidity.

I needed to steal something.

But there was nothing Emiko nor I wanted to steal...

Damnit.


	21. Chapter 20

_**Broken**_

...Twentieth Part: Krad...

Dark came trudging back into the house close to nine o'clock in the evening. He was scowling to himself, shifting his eyes and nodding his head about in a way that told me he was definitely warring with himself over something.

"Emiko told me you'd be back in a couple _hours_, not a couple _days_," I remarked, jokingly.

Dark looked up from the puddle he was creating around himself to me, still looking very seriously contemplative. He blinked a couple times then shook his head, glancing absently away toward a wall.

His tension was making me nervous. "Dark? What's going on?" I asked, turning his face toward me so he would actually look at me.

"Oh, what the hell," he muttered.

Suddenly, Dark snapped out of his strange behavior, grabbing my face and pulling me into a deep, passionate kiss that didn't stop until I thought surely both of us would die of asphyxiation. When he pulled away, my first reaction was: Okay, I forgive you... but then his eyes met mine in a look I couldn't exactly place.

"Tell me if I'm crossing any lines," he whispered, still trying to regain his breath from that kiss.

"What...?" I yelped as he pushed me backward, hoisting me up by my waist so that I was sitting on the dining table. He kissed me again, pushing his tongue through my lips to explore my mouth. I was a bit scared from the ravenous kissing, added together with the lack of explanation.

"Not in my kitchen, Dark," Emiko sang, tapping her fingers against the surface of the table as she walked by.

"Not what...?" I squeaked when Dark released my lips again. "Dark, what are you doing?"

He told me, "I don't really know," before kissing me again, this time the side of my face. "Never mind." I heard the final resolution in his voice, though it seemed reluctant.

Dark pulled away, sighing, and waved a hand in front of my face. "Krad? Angel, you're stiff as a statue."

I blinked at the pet name, trying to pull my thought process back together. "What was all _that_ about?" I demanded.

"Uhm... I missed you!" he said, tossing his arms around my neck. It sounded like an excuse.

Rolling my eyes at him, I pushed back his bangs and kissed his forehead. I pretended to ignore the purplish bruise there. It seemed to explain a couple of things... but how had he gotten it? "Likely story," I retorted.


	22. Chapter 21

_**Broken**_

...Twenty-first Part: Amelia Ogata...

"Stop moving, you big oaf!" I scolded him, placing my hand on top of his graying head and pushing it back down into the cover of the brush again. My brother really got on my nerves sometimes. Like many duos, he was the brawn and I was the brain. You would think that, being about a dozen years older than me, he'd be the smarter one. As if. "Stay here. And for the love of God, Hotarou, _stay still_!"

I stood up, brushing grass off of my new stolen skirt and picking a half-decayed leaf out of my hair. Now that my face and name were well known, I would have to go about my business differently. I used to lock myself in with them, playing about with their fear like a favorite doll. And eventually, with my perverted freak brother's help, I could pry them open. If I said the right things, acted the right way, I could break them. I could almost hear the crash as I thought about it – like delicate glass, thrown to the floor with a breath-catching shatter. I would listen to them scream and cry and beg when my brother had his turn with our toys.

Just pull the string a couple more times... _"Help me... Help me..."_

But I couldn't do such things anymore. I had no home, and therefore no basement, and thus also no rooms. This made me angry.

Straightening out my face pleasantly, I approached a woman with short yellow hair, who had stopped to look at a map she was holding. Folding my hands behind my back and tilting my head to the side rather innocently, I asked her, "May I help you with anything, miss?"

She looked startled for a moment. "Oh, hi," she said. "I was... uh... looking for... the post office."

What an odd place to be going in the middle of the night. I noticed the crisp little white envelope she was holding in her hand beneath the map. At least she was telling the truth, I noted, slightly confused.

"What is your name?" I wondered.

"Uhm... It's Kiisho. So... can you direct me to the post office? ...I'm kind of new around here."

I felt a smile spread across my face. Kiisho, my dear, you have just told me a very nice piece of information. I pointed down the street. "It's right down that way," I informed her. "You can't miss it."

"Oh. Thanks!" Kiisho's face lit up, and she began walking. I made a quick gesture with my hand for Hotarou to come over to me.

When he did, I flexed my fingers excitedly, fussing absently with my skirt. "She doesn't know who we are!" I whispered. "So I need you to follow her," I explained. "But be _very quiet_! I'll find someplace we can keep her and meet you at the fountain, alright?"

Hotarou nodded.

"Good." My smirk was triumphant and there was surely danger in my eyes. I watched as Hotarou lumbered off, and when he was out of sight, I ran in another direction, in search of a building uninhabited.


	23. Chapter 22

_**Broken**_

...Twenty-second Part: Dark...

/'...found dead today, in an alley near the post office. She was reported missing about a week ago...'/

On the television screen next to the reporter who was filling everyone in on the latest news, was a picture of a pretty young woman with short blond hair and a pleasant smile that reminded me a lot of Daisuke when he was embarrassed about something. The caption beneath the photograph read: _Kiisho Yamura_.

I leaned on the back of the chair Daikii was sitting in, listening in with mild interest.

Then Krad walked out of our room, yawning. "Dark, why don't you – Who is she?" he wondered, changing his question mid-sentence.

"She was murdered, apparently," I informed him, sounding rather disinterested. When Krad didn't say anything more, I looked back at him to find a handsome blond man trying not to go paralyzed.

Oh.

My brain finally linked the little pieces together. I shook his shoulder a little.

"I _told_ you they escaped!" he growled. "Why didn't you believe me!?"

That certainly wasn't the reaction I thought I was going to get. "I never said that I didn't!" I retorted.

"It certainly seemed so." He crossed his arms over his chest and quirked his mouth in a way that told me he was hurt and a bit irritated – pouty, to sum it up.

"Stop arguing, the two of you," Daikii told them. "I'm trying to watch the news."

I scowled at the back of his chair momentarily before turning Krad away and pushing him in the direction of our room, leaving the old man to his program.

. . .

"Dark, before I die –"

"You are _not_ going to die," I cut him off.

"Let me speak!"

"No. I am not going to tolerate this morbid crap from you, got it?" I said fiercely, gripping his shoulders and giving him a firm shake. "I've told you before; if those bastards lay a finger on you they're dead."

"But –"

"Krad!" He appeared to shrink under my raised voice. "Stop it, already."

Leading his face to mine by his jaw, I pulled him into a kiss. I planned on it being a short one, but I felt Krad's arms slide around my neck and he held me where I was, kissing me back until we needed to breathe.

I blinked, wide-eyed, in utter astonishment at the next thing that came from Krad's lips. "Before I die, I want to have sex with you, Dark!" he blurted before I had a chance to cut him off.

The only response I could manage was, "...Seriously...?"


	24. Chapter 23

_**Broken**_

...Twenty-third Part: Krad...

The look of shock on Dark's face made me pull back in hesitation. He blinked slowly. "...Seriously...?"

I nodded, now beginning to feel more uncertain about my declaration. "I... uhm..."

Dark kissed the top of my head, threading his fingers through my hair after pulling it out of its usual ponytail style, and I gazed at him from behind thin wisps of gold. He cleared his throat momentarily. "You're not going to die, Krad..."

Was he... rejecting me... or simply restating that? Sure, I was a little unstable, and my body had been completely violated... I was never innocent; I had tried to kill him on several occasions... and... and... I could understand why he wouldn't want me after...

"What are you thinking so intently about?" Dark asked quietly, bringing me out of my extensive listing of why I was such a disgusting being.

"Dark, I –"

He cut me off _again_, his lips crashing against mine. I felt his hand pressing down on my thigh as he leaned closer against me.

I felt a slight smile start to tug at the corner of my lips even through the rising unease that his hand caused as it slid up my thigh and my hip. It went on still, sliding up my side and pushing my shirt up with it. Then slid back down, ever so slowly, as I leaned back to lie on the bed.

Removing his exploring fingers from me, Dark found my hand and guided it to his chest. For a moment he just stayed like that, straddling my hips, and with both of his hands pressing my palm to his chest. "First, I have to ask you..." He bent over me, and I could feel my face heating up as his warm breath washed over the side of my face and my ear. "... Do you trust me enough?"

"How could you think that I don't?" I replied quietly.

His mouth carefully touched the side of my neck. "You're shaking, Krad. That's how."

"No I'm not," I denied, even as my lip trembled slightly.

Dark looked at me skeptically. "You're still afraid..." He looked down at my hand, which he was still holding to his heart, and began absently examining my fingers, his eyebrows drawing together above disheartened eyes. I couldn't speak. "You were never afraid," he whispered. "Not of me – not of anyone, or any_thing_! You shouldn't be afraid _now_."

"Maybe I was..."

"No. You weren't – ever."

Dark's uncharacteristically calm defiance was what frightened me, now, but I wasn't about to say anything. All I could do was stare up at him... helplessly...

Then, before I even knew what I was doing, I grabbed a mass of fabric near the collar of Dark's T-shirt and pulled him down to me so I could kiss him. I couldn't see his initial reaction; my eyes were closed as I ravished him, but I could hear a soft chuckle before he started to kiss me back.

His hands were all over my body: my face, my chest, my legs, and places that would've probably made me cry if I didn't want him so badly or love him so completely. And I was like putty in those powerful, beautiful hands, melting under every touch. Dark's lips parted from mine with a small smile, following my jaw and neck down to my collarbone, then his tongue traced back up my throat again and his teeth grazed my ear. I moaned. My head rolled to the side to allow him easier access to my skin, which he chose one spot just below the corner of my jaw to violate, using his teeth and tongue and lips all in turn, sucking at the tender spot in my nervous system so hard it managed to bruise and get very red. I was a mindless mess through this whole process. My eyes could barely manage to keep open, and even then my vision swam so much with the ecstasy that it wouldn't have made much of a difference if my eyes were wide.

"You sure are noisy," Dark teased, his soft voice sounding low and thick from the same passion that I could see in his eyes. Passion for me.

He slowly massaged the stiff member below my waist again, through the fabric of the jeans I was wearing. It was torture. "Dark..." I whined. My head turned to the other side as I arched up into his palm. My fingers curled into the blankets beneath me.

"I'll stop if you want me to..."

"No!" I gasped, moving my right hand over his.

He looked straight into my eyes for a while, searching for something.

Once he had apparently found what he'd been looking for, Dark slipped his hand away from mine and pulled his shirt off, tossing the wad of black cotton on the floor before focusing back on me. Slipping an arm under my back, he hauled me up to sit with my chest pressed against his. Somehow through all of this, his waist became sandwiched between my legs and I was on his lap.

Dark's lips were on mine again and our tongues flitted from one mouth to the other in a more sensual fight than either of us was used to, while his fingers fumbled with the buttons on my shirt. I rocked on top of him, grinding our hips together and managing to make _him_ moan, for once.

I grew bolder, touching his naked chest; moving my hands across his skin. I pinched one of his nipples between my fingers, feeling the reaction in his body. Pulling my mouth away from Dark's, I kissed his chest and flicked my tongue across the hard little nub opposite the one my fingers were still occupied with. I wanted him even more. I could hardly catch my breath from his kiss, and my chest almost hurt from the gasps and panting that my frantic lugs still formed.

Dark pushed me back over again, and I lazily stretched my arms above my head, threading strands of my long hair around my fingers. My sleeves still covered my arms, but now my shirt lay splayed open, revealing my chest. And Dark worked on displaying the rest of my body, unbuckling the belt I wore and pulling my pants off, looking down at me all the while, waiting for me to protest.

I was feeling a little self-conscious, but I didn't want him to stop. My irrational fears were ebbing.

I sat up again when he was finished undressing me, and he laughed a little. "What are you blushing for?" he asked humorously, tapping the tip of my nose. "It's not like I haven't seen you naked before." Dark laughed again when my blush deepened. If he wouldn't have said anything, though, I probably would have been fine. He was standing in front of me, now, still with his own pants on, grinning as he watched my face change color.

Glowering at him for embarrassing me, I reached out and tugged him closer by the hem of his uncomfortable-looking leather pants. I would never be able to understand why he wore those things. I'd be happy with him just in ordinary denim. I tugged his pants and his underwear down, both at once because I was impatient. But then as I looked at him, eye-level, I decided that impatience was a little overwhelming.

"Dark," I whispered his name uncertainly. The unease was creeping back into me. I must have breathed on him, because he shivered. I leaned away a little.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! My writing-ness kind of died, there, for a while...


	25. Chapter 24

_**Broken**_

...Twenty-fourth Part: Dark...

I stepped out of the legs of my pants, watching him closely. That look of fear that had been gone from his entire being just moments ago was slowly coming back to him, little by little, as he looked at my naked body. I had, in fact, seen him like this before, but I realized that he had never seen me. It made me feel a bit guilty for a moment. It hurt my pride, though, that his first reaction to me would be to lean away.

I knelt in front of him, resting my hands on his knees. "Krad... Are you alright?"

He nodded, but didn't speak.

"We don't have to do this anymore, if you've changed your mind," I told him. I stood again, leaning over to kiss his golden-blond head. I called him 'Angel' and he looked up at me. His lips moved, but I couldn't make out what he said. I don't think he actually made any sound at all.

Krad caught the look of confusion on my face. "Take me..." he whispered. His lips remained parted and loose, looking soft and lubricated with saliva. His eyes were wary, but clear, and his face was smooth. He looked startlingly innocent.

"Are you sure?"

He locked his arm around the small of my back, pulling me against him and kissing my hip in a wide-eyed moment of courage. "Yes."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Short, but it'll do.


	26. Chapter 25

_**Broken**_

...Twenty-fifth Part: Dark...

Krad was completely worn out. He was curled against my side, trapping my arm beneath his neck and my chest under his arm. I didn't necessarily want to get up and leave him, but my arm was falling asleep and I needed a shower to clean up the sweaty grease mop that was my hair.

"Krad," I whispered. "Let me up, Angel."

"Nm-mm," he murmured, nuzzling his nose into my neck.

I laughed despite myself, pushing his face away and sliding my arm out from under him. "No, baby. I'm getting up now."

Krad groaned shortly and whacked my side as I got up, for calling him 'baby'. My pet-name for him – 'Angel' – was alright, but 'baby' was unacceptable... I called him that from time to time anyway, though, just because irritating him was still kind of fun.

"Babe," I whispered tauntingly.

"Daaarrk!" he whined – just like a little kid.

"You know I do it just to bug you," I told him. I kissed Krad's forehead before walking off into the bathroom, leaving the pretty immortal man to his sleep.

. . .

"NO!" I shut the water off and scrambled into my clothes as fast as I possibly could when I heard the scream, shaking my hair in a sad attempt to dry it and flinging water everywhere. I was about to crash the door open, too, but stopped short of the handle when I noticed other voices accompanying Krad's choked sobbing.

"Hush, little angel," a woman's voice cooed. "Somebody might come to hurt you if they hear you. Shhh. Don't cry. You remember me, don't you?"

"Amelia, I think I heard something," a man's rough, gravelly voice tried to interrupt her. I recognized it immediately. Hotarou Ogata.

Amelia Ogata didn't seem to hear her brother at all. She kept ranting on in a sweet, childlike voice – something so deceiving and wrong that I thought I was going to be sick, knowing what she really was. Psychopath. "Pretty pale thing," she chimed. "So pure, so naïve, and innocent – but you're not innocent, are you? Nope. Your golden hair is all a lie. You look just like an angel, don't you? But you're a devil. There's a devil in all of us, you know. Nobody's perfect. And you're a dirty little thing, aren't you? Tainted, my friend. You..."

I grit my teeth together, restraining myself from bursting into the room until I had a sure idea of what exactly I was dealing with. Krad's muffled crying tore at my heart, though. I knew I couldn't wait much longer. I had to save him from these criminals. Rapists. Rapists of body and mind. And they had to die. Today.

"Amelia, I swear I heard something," Hotarou Ogata insisted.

"What's this...?" she went on, ignoring him again. Krad whimpered, and I thought that I might, too, knowing what could be happening. "Oh, look at this... hmm... Hotarou, my brother, somebody else has been playing with our toy!"

This seemed to catch the oaf's attention, because he stopped insisting he heard something – probably me.

I pressed my face against the door, listening more intently as I prepared myself to open it. I could hardly hear anything over the horrified pounding of my heart. Somehow they had managed to find Krad, figure out where we lived, and barge into our house unnoticed – unless they had killed everyone else. I doubted that possibility, but I shivered nonetheless, thinking frantically what I would do without my family. What would I do without Krad if I couldn't save him? How could I live?

I heard another of Krad's terrified cries and swung open the door, nearly busting it off of its hinges. I went straight for Hotarou, the ugly monster bent over my lover. I grabbed the back of his jacket and dragged him off of Krad, throwing him across the room without taking any account for his size. I was more powerful than him anyway. Violet magic gathered in my hand and I hurled it at him. It hit him, though it probably wasn't a fatal shot.

I ran over to Krad, cupping his face in my shaking hands. "Are you okay?" I asked fiercely.

He shrank under my intense eyes, but nodded. I'd saved him from molestation, but I wasn't too sure how his mind was holding up. I could feel the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand on end when Amelia came up behind me. I couldn't see her, but I knew she was there. I smoothed my hand down the length if Krad's tense face once, caressing his skin, before turning around.

My arm met a metal bar and I discovered that the woman had somehow managed to pry a towel bar off of the bathroom wall. She tried to hit me with it again – acting very out-of-character from the profile the police had created – but I caught it, wrenching it out of her little hands.

She flipped her hair away from her face, grinning. "You wouldn't hit me with that," she said. "You wouldn't do that, would you? No, I don't think you have the courage to. I don't think you have the brains to. Like my brother, you can't think for yourself," she taunted, her predictions getting off-kilter from her usual mind games. But then, as she backed away from me slowly, she grabbed a hold of her disgusting 'charm' again. "Why did you wait so long, hmm? Is this precious thing not worth enough to you? That you would hold back for so long, and not come to his rescue. Maybe it was to save your own skin."

"Shut up, Amelia," I growled. I could feel the magic bubbling up in me from my anger. I felt my wings sprout from my back and I towered over her like the angel of death. Her eyes widened.

"Impossible," she spat. "Impossible!"

I grabbed her by the throat. "Stop. Talking," I demanded through my teeth. She tried to pry my hand away from her neck, to get air into her lings, but failed miserably. Even when her fingernails tore open my skin and blood trickled down my arm, I didn't let go. I was slowly suffocating her, and my hand burned with magic that was dying to get out and kill her.

Unnervingly, she was smirking at me when she died. I dropped her, and she looked like some crazed doll on the floor, her glazed, dead eyes still looking at me cunningly, like something I did was hysterically funny.

Hotarou got up from his wounded position on the floor and came at me, snarling about his sister's death and that he'd "crush me like a twig". The psychotic woman had been right about her brother having no brains. Even as my magic whorled, he ran at me, charging right into certain death.

"The bigger they are," I whispered. "The harder they fall."

I smirked a little at the two dead beings on the floor of my bedroom. I had killed them both.

I killed them.

I killed...

I sank to my knees, breathing heavily. Sure, I'd been in fights, knocked a bunch of guys out, but never had I actually killed anyone before. I ran a hand back through my hair and shook my head disbelievingly.

"Dark...?" Krad groped around the floor for his clothes. His shirt and underwear were what he could reach, so he put those on, not bothering to ask where his jeans had gone, and walked over to me.

I rested my head against his leg for a moment and looked up at him. "I told you so," I laughed softly.

There were tears in Krad's eyes again, but they didn't spill over – mine did, though. They rolled down my face slowly, and I stood up to look at him before pulling him into my arms, just to hold him.

"I love you," I told him sincerely, swaying slightly.

Krad wrapped his arms around my neck, burying his face between my neck and his right elbow. We rocked back and forth together, as if to some silent music, just holding each other close.

"Thank you," Krad choked, and I felt his hot tears on my shoulder.

Late, there was the sound of running footsteps, and a small crowd called the Niwa family burst into the room, Emiko at the lead. At least they were alright – obliviously sound sleepers, but alright.

I knew that Krad realized that they were there, too, but he tried to ignore them.

"Dark, what happened!?" Emiko demanded, cringing away from the deceased criminals on the floor and wondering at the misplaced towel bar.

"I killed Hotarou and Amelia Ogata!" I snapped at her. "What does it look like!?"

Seriously.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The moment we've all been waiting for! _(Insert applause here)_


	27. Chapter 26

_**Broken**_

...Twenty-sixth Part: Krad...

They're finally gone. This notion stunned me and excited me simultaneously. I didn't have to be afraid anymore. I clung to Dark, reveling in the embrace. Tears transferred from my eyes to his bare shoulder, but they were just leftovers, spilling over my face from relief.

Emiko was fussing over dead bodies in her house. I tried to ignore her voice, but it pierced through my senses. "What do we do with them?" she was complaining, and other nonsense like, "The carpet's stained."

"We should call Sato," Daisuke suggested.

"And then what? He can arrest me for killing them? I don't think so," Dark argued. I stifled a gasp when he moved, crashing his arm into the backs of my knees and scooping me into his arms effortlessly. "You can take care of this mess however you want," he told them. "I don't want to even look at them anymore!" And then, pushing past Daikii and Kosuke, he carried me out of the room.

Dark set me on the couch and sat next to me, resting his elbows on his knees and hanging his head in his hands. I waited for a while, not knowing what to do.

He turned his head to me, his deep eyes laden with concern. "You're not hurt, are you?"

I shook my head. "Nothing I can't live through." Amelia had prodded at the hickey Dark left on my throat the previous night, which hurt, but not extraordinarily so. And Hotarou had been wrestling with my arms before Dark appeared. There were red, sore spots on my arms now that could possibly turn into bruises, but nothing more.

"You're absolutely sure?" he worried.

I nodded. A thought occurred to me. "That was oddly perfect timing," I considered.

Dark was puzzled. "...What?"

"I told you I wanted to have sex with you before I died," I reminded him, and I thought I saw a faint rouge streak come into his face. "And they came to claim me the next morning," I concluded. "I truly thought I was going to die."

"And I told you," Dark said gravely, "that if they ever touched you again I would kill them."

I small smile played across my lips and I touched his face. I couldn't use words to tell him how much I debt I owed to him, or how much I loved him. I wondered if he could comprehend it.

I let my wings unfurl slowly from my back, then. Dark gazed at me like I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. I couldn't believe that.

"Interesting conversations you two have," Satoshi commented, startling me.

"Shut up," Dark muttered. "You sure got here fast. You wouldn't have happened to be stalking us, too, would you?"

"Of course not," Satoshi stated. "Daisuke called me. So, tell me what happened."

"Why don't you go look for yourself?"

"Dai said that Emiko was already busy bleaching the walls or something like that." He laughed. "Your mother is quite the eccentric, Dark."

Dark only shrugged.

"So what happened?" Satoshi insisted.

And so, Dark began his long explanation, glancing at me every now and then, at which point I would nod or give a little smile. Apparently, he needed to be absolutely certain that I was still breathing. I took laid my hand over his, and he tangled our fingers together.

"Now what?" Dark asked when he was finished.

Satoshi sighed. "I'm debating on whether to arrest you or give you some kind of medal," he admitted. "You haven't stolen anything for quite a while... You just murdered two people, but the people you murdered were escaped convicts who have murdered at least a dozen others, so..."

"Don't arrest him, Satoshi," I told him.

Satoshi was trying not to laugh. "Alright. I won't – like I could keep him there, anyway."

"Exactly!" Dark said triumphantly.

Daisuke came running into the room then. "We need help," he told us, waving at Satoshi while he caught his breath. "What should we do with the bodies?"

"I'll arrange transport to get them to the morgue. No autopsies. I'll create a story, though I doubt anyone will care. The public will hear they're dead and rejoice." Satoshi pulled out a cell phone and began dialing numbers.


	28. Chapter 27

_**Broken**_

...Twenty-seventh Part: Krad...

_The feeling of him inside me was incredible. At first, it was a bit painful, but as my body adjusted around him, I was overwhelmed with pleasure. He kept hitting something inside of me that sent my body into spasms and messed with my vision. Our bodies were both slick with sweat, but for that I could care less._

_Dark leaned down to kiss me, pushing my legs against my chest – a movement that allowed him to penetrate me even deeper. I cried out hoarsely into our kiss, digging my fingers into his back and clenching my legs around his waist as orgasm surged through my body._

. . .

Flying. I hadn't used my wings for so long. Dark and I stepped out into the night and I moaned loudly when the cool air touched the brilliant feathers. Holding his hand loosely in mine, I just stood there for a while, relishing in the intoxicating feeling. I suddenly felt that I had boundless energy, and I felt drunk with it. I hadn't flown on my own before. I'd never yet flown in my own body.

I didn't have to fight for it.

Dark smirked at me. He was laughing. "Well?" he asked. "What are you waiting for?"

I opened my mouth to make some remark, but I couldn't speak and couldn't even recall what I was going to say. My fingers slipped away from his as I took off into the sky.

Dark simply stood where he was, watching me for a while as I sped through the night, turning all manner of erotic, experimental tricks in the air. I'd never felt this... free, before. No one opposed me, and I was faster than before with the lack of resistance, because it was just me. I rose higher into the sky, letting my eyes slip closed as I drifted.

Something soft and smooth touched my mouth and I recognized Dark's lips instantly. I kissed him back and he wrapped his arms around my waist. I inched my fingers up under his shirt to caress his warm skin.

But then he pulled away, darting off toward the sea. I opened my eyes, stunned as I watched him go. Shaking my head to find my senses again, I shot after him. "DARK!" My voice was something of a shout and a whine combined. "Get back here!"

Dark laughed and kept going. If anything, he went faster. "If you want me, you're gonna have to catch me!" he taunted.

I chased him for at least an hour, diving through the air and swerving around obstacles such as trees, buildings, or windmills. Finally, when we were both beginning to tire, I caught up to him, grabbing his ankle.

He tried to shake me off, but I held on stubbornly, trying not to laugh. "Let go!" he demanded.

"No!" I gave his leg a firm yank, pulling him back to me and wrapping my arms around his waist.

As we fought playfully together, we lost altitude. Dark folded his arms protectively over my head as we plummeted to the ground, sliding across dew-soaked grass to a halt.

I swallowed the scream that wanted to force its way up my throat.

"Well, I have to admit," Dark laughed, "That wasn't one of our better ideas." Then he must have noticed I wasn't moving. "Krad? Krad, what's wrong? What happened?"

I shook my head, not wanting to open my mouth because I might still scream. I clutched my hand to my chest and just tried to breathe. I'd broken one of my fingers in our crash, and _it hurt_! The pain shot halfway up my arm.

Dark tried to pry my good hand away to see what the problem was. "Let me see," he ordered gently.

I shook my head again, but I let him take my hand. My finger looked bad. It was horribly crooked – angles that fingers shouldn't be in.

"Do you want me to straighten it for you?"

"No!" My voice was hardly more than a squeak.

Dark tried to wipe the tears away, which were still streaming down my face uncontrollably. "Either I straighten it, or you do it yourself."

I didn't want to do it myself. When I didn't answer, Dark began messing with it without my consent. I bit my sleeve to muffle my cries. Thankfully, he worked quickly and accurately. My finger was straight again and although it hurt, it didn't hurt quite as bad as it had before. And now it would heal.

Dark pulled me to him, his arms around my shoulders and back, holding me while I recovered from the little mishap.

I managed to smile through the lingering pain.

This breaking my finger? It was nothing.

I'd had worse.

And I was mended.

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Whoa! Congrats to me for finishing my 3rd fic! That's it for this story, but I should be making an EXTRAS page will all my thoughts, ideas, and anything I might've left out. Thanks for reviewing! I really appreciate it! _(big smile)_

The First Sight


	29. EXTRAS

**EXTRAS**

"_What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."_

First of all, I'd like to give one last huge THANK YOU to those of you who reviewed! I love reviews! You are awesome people!

Anyway, I don't actually know what I should put in my EXTRAS section. (I've had troubles with that for my second fic, "Back to Square One", as well.) So, if you have any questions or suggestions for what might need explaining, leave a review and tell me – because you won't know if you don't ask.

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